Women’s poverty in Diyarbakır: ‘What we go through is nothing but slavery’

* Photo: Jinnews / Fahriye, showing her fridge

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Amid the economic crisis in Turkey, women have been especially hit by the increasing inflation and pressure of price hikes.

Speaking to Jinnews women's news agency, women in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır say, "What we have found themselves in is nothing but a system of slavery."

Şirin Çınar and Sema Çağlak from Jinnews visit women at their houses and talk to them about how they have been affected by the economic crisis.

Two of hundreds of women who cannot buy anything from bazaars or markets where even a kilo of tomatoes are now sold for 38 lira, Fahriye Çukur, a woman working at home, and Özlem Maral, a shop owner, complain that their electricity, water and natural gas bills have doubled in a month.

'I cannot even buy basic necessities'

Underlining that they cannot buy even their basic necessities due to increasing prices, Fahriye Çukur says, "We wake up in the morning and see that the prices of everything have been increased."

She adds, "Since autumn, our fridge has been empty. Two years ago, I was able to shop at the bazaar with just 20 lira in my pocket and fill the fridge. But now, I cannot even buy our basic necessities with 200 lira. I think about it a thousand times what I can prepare for breakfast."

Stressing that it has become difficult to make ends meet due to the price hikes in the past two years, Fahriye says, "In the past, I would buy a tin of oil and use it for four months by sparing. But now, I cannot even buy a tin of oil. In the past, I would buy 5 kilos of fruit. My daughter has been wanting fruit for a week now but I cannot buy even a kilo of fruit."

Saying that their only income is her spouse's pension of 2,500 lira, Fahriye asks, "There are electricity and water bills, rent, children's school expenses and telephone bills that we need to pay. How can we pay all of these with this pension?" She says, "Some days, I sit and cry because I cannot buy anything." She demands that the price increases be reduced:

People cannot make ends meet due to these prices. People cannot make a living even if they increase pensions. People everywhere say, 'Reduce these price hikes'.

'Bills are high even if we save'

Working as a hairdresser for 20 years, Özlem Maral complains about increasing bills in the wake of recent price hikes:

"Normally, I would pay nearly a thousand lira for the bills. Last month, it was 1,241 lira. And this month, it broke a record: 2,306 lira.

"Even if I saved on electricity, my bills were high. My natural gas bill is 150 lira and the water bill is 150 lira, too. My two children have their school expenses as well. I live in a rented house, we pay 1,100 lira for the rent a month. The electricity bill of my workplace is 2,500 lira. I think it may be 5,000 lira next month. The course of events shows this."

'Nothing but a system of slavery'

Özlem says that as a shop owner, she is about to go bankrupt and her shop is not doing much business. She complains that even though she spends her time mostly at her shop, the bills of her house are still high. "If bills keep on coming like this, how will I pay my personnel," she asks:

In the previous months, our bills were nearly 800 lira at most. We could at least pay them regularly. Even though I am not at home, a 400-lira electricity bill is sent to our house. I still cannot comprehend how this bill could be so high while I am at my shop most of the time. Moreover, I have all sorts of other expenses such as the rent and subscription fees. We work now and only eat one meal a day.

Özlem summarizes her life as "slavery" and says: "The situation that we have found ourselves in is nothing but a system of slavery". (AEK/SD)